IMBICE   05372
INSTITUTO MULTIDISCIPLINARIO DE BIOLOGIA CELULAR
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Brain circuits mediating the orexigenic action of peripheral ghrelin: narrow gates for a vast kingdom.
Autor/es:
AGUSTINA CABRAL; PABLO N. DE FRANCESCO; MARIO PERELLÓ
Revista:
Frontiers in Endocrinology
Editorial:
endocrinology editorial
Referencias:
Año: 2015
ISSN:
1664-2392
Resumen:
The nervous and endocrine
systems act together to regulate all physiological processes essential for the
body homeosta- sis control. Given the strict communica- tion restrictions that
the brain?blood bar- rier (BBB) imposes, the interplay between these two
systems requires a variety of deli- cate anatomical interfaces and physiolog-
ical mechanisms that guarantee the pre- cise function of the neuroendocrine
system as a whole. The study of the mechanisms by which hormones act in the
brain in order to regulate specific neuronal popu- lations is a research topic
rather neglected. Our group studies the neuronal circuitries and molecular
mechanisms by which the stomach-produced hormone ghrelin regu- lates appetite
and other physiological func- tions. A clear notion of the brain targets of
peripheral ghrelin is essential for the comprehensive understanding of the
phys- iological role of this hormone. Ghrelin is called ?the hunger hormone?
since it is the only known orexigenic peptide hormone. The target for ghrelin
orexigenic actions is the brain, which contains a variety of ghrelin-responsive
nuclei; however, several evidences suggest that the accessibility of peripheral
ghrelin to the brain is strik- ingly low. Here, we briefly summarize the
current knowledge in this topic and dis- cuss this intriguing
neuroendocrinological issue.